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Tesla finally builds 5,000 Model 3s in a week... if you round down

The last car rolled off the line a few hours after midnight, which is pretty darn close.

Elon Musk via Twitter

Elon Musk finally did what he said he would do, even if it took a couple extra hours.

produced nearly 5,000 Model 3 electric sedans in the last week of June, Reuters reports, citing conversations with two Tesla workers and an internal email Musk sent out. Tesla did not immediately return a request for comment, but it confirmed the email's contents to Reuters.

The 5,000th Model 3 apparently rolled off the line around 5 a.m. Pacific on July 1. That's just a few hours short of Musk's self-imposed deadline of reaching this production rate by the end of the second quarter, June 30. At the same time, the company built an additional 2,000 Model S and Model X vehicles, bringing the company's total seven-day production to 7,000 vehicles, which Musk tweeted about earlier on Sunday.

It's unclear if Tesla can maintain this production rate in the weeks to come, as Tesla has been known to build large numbers of vehicles in spurts in the past, but Reuters says the same email also claims that Tesla hopes to hit 6,000 Model 3s per week "next month," so clearly Musk is feeling ambitious about his company's future production.

It took Tesla quite a bit of effort to get to this point. The goal of building 5,000 cars per week was pushed back more than once, due in part to Musk's ambitious plans to automate as much of the process as possible. In an April interview with CBS This Morning, Musk admitted that the Model 3 production ramp has been a serious learning process.

Part of Tesla's success can be attributed to a tent. Not just any tent, though -- a massive semi-permanent structure outside the company's facility in Fremont, California. It's responsible for churning out dual-motor, all-wheel drive variants of the Model 3. Despite the optics, it's proven effective enough to cause Tesla to open up Model 3 invites to all remaining reservation holders.

Tesla's Model 3 simplifies the EV

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Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
Andrew Krok
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.

Article updated on July 1, 2018 at 6:38 PM PDT

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Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
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